Korda rallies to win Washington title, 32 years after father Petr

American Sebastian Korda, the No 4 seed, beat Italian Flavio Cobolli, the No 10 seed, 4-6, 6-2, 6-0 to win the Citi Open trophy at the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center in Washington on Sunday night.

The victory comes 32 years after Korda’s father, Petr Korda, won the Washington Open in 1992. They become the first father-son duo to win the same ATP Tour event. It’s Seb Korda’s second career title and first at ATP 500 level.

This was also Korda’s most significant title to date, with the 24-year-old explaining after the match just how much it means to him:

“I wanted it so bad, ever since I’ve been coming to this tournament as a little kid. Seeing my dad’s name up there, it’s something I’ve dreamed of,” Korda said. “Now to do it, I’m so emotional, so happy. I couldn’t think of a better place to win my first ATP 500. To have the opportunity to play professional tennis, and hopefully be like my dad, is a dream come true.”

Tight first set before Korda races away

The match began on a very level footing, with both men dominating behind their first serves.

It was Cobolli who capitalised on one of the few break opportunities, drawing first blood and taking a one set lead in Washington.

However, from this point onwards, Korda took his game to a new level, and the Italian struggled to stay with him, spraying errors across sets two and three. The American raced away with the next two sets, winning 12 of the next 14 games to claim the title in an hour and 34 minutes.

Earlier in the tournament, Korda, ranked No 22, defeated Chilean Cristian Garin (6-3, 6-2), Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis (6-7 (1), 7-5, 3-2 ret.), Australian Jordan Thompson, the No 7 seed (6-4, 6-2) and No 5 seed Frances Tiafoe (6-4, 6-4).

Cobolli, ranked No 48, beat Belgian David Goffin (7-6 (4), 6-3), Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, the No 8 seed (1-6, 7-6, 7-6 (7)), American Alex Michelsen, the No 15 seed (7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (2)) and American Ben Shelton, the second seed (4-6, 7-5, 6-3) in the previous rounds of the Washington D.C. tournament.

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